1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electric power conversion apparatus that includes a stacked body, a capacitor and a metal frame; the stacked body is formed by stacking a plurality of semiconductor modules and has a plurality of coolant passages formed between the semiconductor modules.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is disclosed, for example in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-182626, an electric power conversion apparatus that performs electric power conversion between DC (Direct Current) power and AC (Alternating Current) power.
Specifically, the electric power conversion apparatus is configured to include a stacked body, a metal frame, a capacitor and a case. The stacked body is formed by stacking a plurality of semiconductor modules, each of which has semiconductor elements built therein, and a plurality of cooling devices for cooling the semiconductor modules. The frame has the stacked body arranged and fixed therein. The capacitor is located outside of the frame and configured to smooth DC voltage applied to the semiconductor modules. The case receives all of the stacked body, the frame and the capacitor therein. In addition, the case is fixed at a suitable position in, for example, a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle.
However, with the above configuration, when there are electronic devices arranged in the vicinity of the electric power conversion apparatus, heat generated by the electronic devices will be transmitted to the capacitor via the case, thereby increasing the temperature of the capacitor. Further, the increase in the temperature of the capacitor will shorten the service life of the capacitor.
Moreover, since all of the stacked body, the frame and the capacitor are received in the case, it may be difficult to minimize the size of the case. Consequently, it may be difficult to make the entire electric power conversion apparatus compact in size.